Netflix’s Bodies: The Perfect Dark Replacement?
Dark remains the gold standard for modern time travel TV shows, and no other shows of the genre have come close to replacing it. However, one Netflix sci-fi miniseries, which premiered in 2023, came close to filling the void Dark left behind. Even to this day, many sci-fi fans recount Dark as a near-perfect sci-fi series that brilliantly captured the existential dread of determinism and the emotional weight of generational trauma. While most time travel shows care little about paradoxes and narrative consistencies, Dark weaved a perfectly circular narrative that treated every causality loop and bootstrap paradox as architecture. Another ambitious Netflix sci-fi thriller tried to tread the same path and did a fairly decent job.
Netflix’s Bodies Has Incredible Story Hook
BODIES, Shira Haas, (Season 1, aired Oct. 19, 2023). photo: ©Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Netflix's Bodies unfolds like a four-dimensional puzzle. It initially begins with a typical murder mystery in which a dead body is found in Longharvest Lane, Whitechapel. However, what makes this mystery even more compelling is that the same body, with the same gunshot wound and tattoo, is discovered by four different detectives in four different timelines (1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053). With this brilliant hook, Bodies instantly reels viewers in and gradually unfolds the overarching conspiracy at play as its four detective characters unravel the truth about the titular dead body.
Arguably, Bodies falls short of reaching its full potential because it initially comes off as the perfect combination of True Detective and Dark's best elements. As it progresses, though, it trades its brooding investigative atmosphere and philosophical intrigue for a more conventional sci-fi thriller structure. The early promise of a morally murky and twisty time travel story does not completely pay off. What works in the show's favor, though, are its memorable performances, brooding atmosphere, and ability to wrap up its storyline in just one season.
Netflix’s Bodies Is The Perfect Show For Fans Of Dark
The cast of Netflix's Dark
Considering how brilliantly Dark executes its time travel story before ending its run with three seasons, calling Bodies its replacement would be unfair. In fact, arguably, no other show since Dark has even come close to being as well-rounded and cohesive in terms of handling time travel. Owing to this, even Bodies ultimately feels more like a compelling companion piece than a true successor.
However, Bodies deserves credit for its ambitiousness and bringing something new to the table like Dark. Most shows and movies involving time travel struggle to rise above the conventions of the genre and narratively all the same. Bodies, too, has moments where it feels a little too familiar. Its ability to spin its own little creative yarn on genre conventions still allows it to etch its own identity, making it the perfect series for viewers who enjoyed Netflix's Dark.
